Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a technology of removing foreign substances accumulated in a heat exchanger using a large number of cleaning balls, and more particularly, to a condenser tube cleaning apparatus capable of easily adjusting the flow of cleaning balls through a ball collection unit for collecting the cleaning balls.
In general, thermal power or nuclear power plants are equipped with components such as a heat exchanger or a condenser, and the heat exchanger or the condenser is equipped with a pipe unit which has a pipe shape and is hollow inside.
Coolant is supplied to the pipe unit for cooling, but various foreign substances may be accumulated in the pipe unit due to the coolant containing foreign substances. These foreign substances accumulated in the condenser are removed using a large number of cleaning balls supplied through a condenser tube cleaning system. Thus, the heat exchange performance of the condenser remains constant.
Such a condenser tube cleaning system is configured as follows. A large number of cleaning balls passing through a condenser are supplied to a foreign substance removal part, which is located at the fore end of the condenser tube cleaning system, via a strainer. The cleaning balls are supplied to coolant, from which foreign substances are removed by the foreign substance removal part, so as to remove foreign substances or residues, such as fur, which are accumulated in the pipe unit, and move from the condenser to the strainer.
In the strainer, the coolant is discharged through a separate pipe, and the cleaning balls are returned back to the foreign substance removal part.
Conventionally, a large number of cleaning balls are supplied to a condenser in a certain unit of time in order to filter foreign substances contained in coolant which is supplied to the condenser. However, when a large amount of foreign substances are accumulated in the condenser, it is difficult to stably supply the cleaning balls to remove the foreign substances.